Week 2 |“Faith That Changes Lives”

Well, we are continuing this journey that we call Celebration of Hope, and today we are so excited because we're celebrating all that God is doing and all that He's going to do on the continent of Africa. Come on, let me hear it. Yeah. Praise God. Praise God. Now, one of the things you may not know is that we have a discipleship journey here at Willow Creek that we call Rooted. That journey was actually birthed on the continent of Africa. And it was a pastor who found that he wanted rhythms of life to reflect the rhythms of discipleship, and so he coined a phrase called Mizizi, which is a word that means roots. And today, we are celebrating all that God has done through the development of Rooted. Praise God. Yeah. And we always think it's great for you to hear the stories of life change. So as we worship, we want you to watch what God has done in the lives of our graduates of Rooted who are celebrating today. So welcome to Willow. Let's worship together. We're glad you're here. We say, He speaks into nothing, He speaks into nothing. And darkness goes running, and darkness goes running. There's no other God like Jehovah. Let's sing that again. Say, He speaks into nothing, He speaks into nothing. And darkness goes running, and darkness goes running. He goes by the name of, He goes by the name of, Jehovah, Jehovah. So let's call the name, call the name, call the name,

call the name, Jehovah. All our praise, all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to Him. Come on, church. Can we clap together? Let's go. We're going to lift our voices and say, His foes will be silent, His foes will be silent. And He's fighting for Zion. There's no other God like Jehovah, Jehovah. His heart never tired. His eyes are like fire. We sing together. There's no other God like Jehovah, Jehovah. So let's call the name, call the name, call the name, call the name, Jehovah. All our praise, all our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to Him. Oh, call the name, call the name, call the name, call the name, Jehovah. All our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to Him. Come on, let's sing this together. Jehovah Nissi, fight your battle. Jehovah Jireh, meet your need. Jehovah Rapha, heal your body. Jehovah Shalom, be your peace. Jehovah Nissi. Jehovah Nissi, fight your battle. You are Jehovah Jireh. Jehovah Jireh, meet your need.

Jehovah Rapha, heal your body. Jehovah Shalom, be your peace. Jehovah Nissi, fight your battle. Jehovah Jireh, meet your need. Jehovah Rapha, heal your body. Jehovah Shalom, be your peace. call the name call the name call the name call the name Jehovah All our praise, all our praise, all our praise belongs to Him. So we call the name call the name call the name Come on, let's give the Lord praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, let's sing it again. Come on. Come on, let's give the Lord praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Oh, we call him Jehovah. He is the I am that I am today. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Well, if you just got here, you walked right in the middle of Celebration of Hope, where last week we celebrated our global partners from Latin America. And as Pastor DeWayne said, we're celebrating our global partners from Africa.

And today we've got some friends visiting us with one choir. They're here today to worship with us. And right now we're going to teach you a song called Omema. Can you say that? Omema. That's it. It means the one who does good. And all the way from Willow Huntley. Tayo is going to help us lead this song. So come on, Tayo. You ready? Let's go. Come on. Come on. Come on, you're heck. I know he loves me. I know he cares. Whenever I call, he always is right there. In times of trouble, he is my help. And I know no fear. I know he'll be right there. Hey, he really does what he says he will do. My God really moves, oh. Hey, why would I doubt when he always comes true. My God really moves, oh. Come on, you're heck. He really, really moves, oh. Let's say it together. I know he loves me. I know he cares.

Whenever I call, he always is right there. In times of trouble, he is my help. And I know no fear. I know he'll be right there. Hey, he really does what he says he will do. My God really moves, oh. Hey, why would I doubt when he always comes true. My God really moves, oh. Hey, he really does what he says he will do. My God really moves, oh. Hey, why would I doubt when he always comes true. My God really moves, oh. Come on. He really, really moves, oh. He really comes to pump me up. Every time. All the time. Every time. Come on, George. Let's do this together. Omelma. Omelma. You've always got time. You can't do no wrong. Omelma. He lives at 99. He's always for the one. Omelma. You're the God who does good. Always on time.

You can't do no wrong. You can't do no wrong. Omelma. Omelma. You live at 99. Always for the one. Omelma. Omelma. You're always, always on time. You can't do no wrong. You can't do no wrong. Omelma. Omelma. You live at 99. One more time. Always for the one. Omelma. Omelma. Omelma. You're always. You're always on time. You can't do no wrong. You can't do no wrong. Omelma. Omelma. You live at 99. Always for the one. Omelma. He really does what he says he will do. My God really moves.

Omelma. Omelma. Omelma. And he always comes true. My God really moves. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! A God who does good. Hallelujah! That's who he is. He is faithful. He is the same guy yesterday, today, and forever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I love you. Glory to God. He is faithful. Right now, we're going to continue to lean in and worship the God who is very present with us. Right now, we're going to be led by grace from our church in Malawi, Flood Church. Let's lift up our voices and declare that our God is a way maker. We're going to sing that together. We worship you, O God, for you are the way maker. Thank you, O God, for that's who you are. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, working in this place, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, working in this place, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you.

You are here, working in this place, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, touching every heart, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, healing every heart, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, touching every heart, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, healing every heart, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, touching every heart, I worship you, I worship you. You are here, moving in our midst, I worship you, I worship you. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. God we call you way maker. We call you promise keeper. We call you Jehovah. The I am that I am. Whatever we need you to be God that's who you are. And so Father as we continue to spend time in your presence. Lord let us know and be reminded that you are here with us. Wherever situation that we find ourselves in God you are right there with us. So God right now we're going to lift up our voices church. Let's lift up our voices one more time. And declare that our God is a way maker. Way maker. Way maker. Miracle worker.

Promise keeper. Light in the darkness my God. That is who you are. Way maker. Way maker. Miracle worker. Promise keeper. Light in the darkness my God. That is who you are. Come on let's give the Lord the biggest praise that he is worthy of. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord today. Well why don't you greet somebody standing close to you and tell them say we serve a great God. And then you can have your seats. God bless you. Praise God. How we doing Willow Creek? Okay. Oh that was about seven of y'all. Come on let's do that one more time. How we doing Willow Creek? There we go. That's the Willow Creek I know. Praise God. It is great to see you. My name is DeWayne. I am one of the pastors here and I get the privilege of serving here at Willow Creek. And I also get the privilege of welcoming you today. So I want you to know that we are glad that you are here.

And you have come at a wonderful time. This week is week two of Celebration of Hope. Come on anybody know that? And this is where we as a church celebrate all that God is doing around the world. And how he's making impact through this church and other churches like ours. And so we want to invite you into that. And we also want to invite you to get connected here at Willow Creek. There is something called the digital connection card. I would love it if you would scan the QR code you see on the screen. Especially if you're new here. That helps us to get connected to you. And it teaches us ways that we can serve you. And again, help you on this journey of following Jesus through connection. We also have an area called the Next Steps area that's out in our atrium. We would love to meet you there. If you have any questions, we would love for you to stop by. We have a free gift for you. Our way of saying thank you for being here today and for checking things out. And one of the first and best next steps that we always invite you to is a class called Discover Willow. And that's going to happen in just a short while here on April 28th. We'd love for you to be a part of that class. You can go to willowcreek.org slash next steps to sign up for it. It's a way for you to discover all that Willow is about. Our mission, our vision, our heartbeat to meet some of our staff. There's a free meal for you there. And there's even child care. Listen, if you are trying to discover what Willow is all about, this is your right next step. And one of the things that we get passionate about in that class is the journey ahead. And the journey ahead has so many different opportunities for you to discover what Willow is all about. Like, for instance, our junior high ministry and our high school ministry.

If you have junior high or high school kids, you're going to want to be in that class. And we point you in a direction of being a part of those ministries. And one of the things that's coming down the pipeline for those ministries is their summer camp. Listen, parents, I don't have to tell you how important it is to send your kids to camp for a number of reasons. Amen? A number of reasons. But one of the best reasons is that they're going to meet Jesus there and other students like them. And so to sign up for camp is a step of faith in the right direction. And listen, we want to invite you to sign up for camp. Why? Because tonight at midnight, the rates are going to go up just a little bit, right? The early bird pricing is going to end tonight at midnight. And so you can sign up for camp by going to jhmcamp.com or hsmcamp.com. And we're hoping that your students, when they sign up, that they encounter Jesus. Jesus there and that their lives are changed. Now, at Willow Creek, life change happens through a bunch of different ways. And one of the best ways is through our opportunity to worship. One of the ways that we worship best is through our generosity. Now, I'm going to invite our ushers down, right? Come on, somebody, celebrate generosity. Praise God. Yeah. I'm going to invite our ushers down as we prepare for our offering time. And I want you to know that when you give, when you're generous here at Willow Creek, your generosity doesn't just make a difference in fueling ministries like JHM and HSM. It makes a difference all around the world. When you give here, we really do our best to multiply that gift by sending it out to the world and making impact through things like the eradication of hunger, through our seed packing efforts, and through teaching sustainable farming methods around the world, through micro loans that empower people to start businesses that make a difference in

and around their communities. And most importantly, through the growth of leaders who will be the future church and the church of even today. And I want you to know that the gospel is being advanced and that the church is growing through your generosity. And I invite you into that generosity journey. There's a couple of ways that you can give here at Willow Creek. You can drop your offering inside the basket here. You can go to willowcreek.org slash give now, and then also you can give through Venmo. But however we give, we want to make maximum impact in the kingdom. So I want to pray to that end. Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy as we prepare to give of what you so graciously given to us. Father, would you condition our hearts that this might be an active worship? And also, would you use it to build and grow your kingdom? We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, let's celebrate. Let's give. Praise God. Now, yesterday, I got to participate in a whole church effort that we call Packing Seeds. Anybody ever get to participate in Packing Seeds? Yeah. Praise God. Those seeds are sent all around the world, and yesterday was a wonderful opportunity. But I want you to know that there is still more opportunity for you to be a part of seed packing. We do it as a whole church, and listen, it takes a lot of people to make this go forward. 8,000 or so different folks who are a part of seed packing will make a difference through

this ministry. And I want you to know that there are still opportunities for you to do that on Monday night and Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can sign up for seed packing by going to willowcreek.org slash next steps. If you've ever wondered how much of a story is told through those seeds being sent around the world, we thought it would be great for you to check out exactly what happens when you make difference and impact through our gift of time, talent, and treasure. So for just a moment, check this out. We have a saying around here, that we have four broken relationships. Our relationship with God, with ourselves, with one another, and with nature. And nature is often the one we forget, but nature has not forgotten us. Growing up, we were taught that the weather ran like a clock, always on time. We knew when to plant, when the rains would come, when to harvest, but now the rains no longer come when they should. You almost knew second week of December, you're going to have the rains come through and run consistently. But as I've gotten older and as time has passed, we've seen gaps in the rainfall. We've seen cases of drought. There was actually one year where there was not enough rainfall to grow maize, which is like the staple food of Malawi, and that led to a huge hunger crisis. Three square meals a day were the norm, but because of low food production, that's now being trimmed maybe to two meals per day, and in some cases, that's even one meal per day. The sun lingers too long when we need clouds. The seasons betray us, too much water, or none at all. The land struggles to feed us, food grows scarce, hunger sets in, hope begins to fade. The communities themselves have not fully been limited by what they don't have. All our three partner organizations, TOPE, International Tearfund, and World Relief will go and meet the local chiefs and they'll meet the pastors together. Trainings that they have received have gotten them to stop and say, we might not have much,

but there's something that we can still do. And yet our community rallied. We partnered with a collective of organizations, sharing tools and ideas, bringing their expertise into the community's challenges. Women gathered, pooling what little they had, forming savings groups, investing in a future they could not yet see. I am a pastor, I am a teacher, I am a teacher, I am a teacher, I am a teacher, I am a pastor. Local pastors were trained to lead with clarity, to teach with strength, to guide with vision. Small businesses began to rise, families bought land, learning new and innovative ways to farm. I am a pastor, I am a teacher, I am a pastor, I am a teacher, I am a pastor, I am a pastor. Communities connected, then united, and became something greater, a cooperative. So through the different trainings and engagements that have been happening with the different partner organizations, the community themselves started to say, hey, we have resource, we have land. Through the land, we can grow our own food. Getting the communities to look at what do you have, what can we do, and getting them to take lead and take action. And together, we dared to imagine a future different from the past. We began reinvesting in ourselves and our environment, planting trees where deforestation decimated the land, implementing efficient solar-powered water systems, and utilizing sustainable agricultural practices. A greenhouse, once an audacious goal, actually took shape. A place where seeds no longer depended on chaos, where irrigation replaced uncertainty and savings groups replaced scarcity. Where food could grow, protected and sustained by our own hands. Through holistic transformation, they see, hey, life is changing for us, how can we also bless and help someone else? It's the communities themselves taking up the action and bringing the change themselves. I'd say hope looks like opportunity and belief that I can actually do it.

When you're basically doing something, you're doing it for the community. You're doing it for yourself. You're doing it for the community. When your basic needs are met, the world opens up. That's what opportunity looks like. That's what the future looks like. It looks hopeful. It looks like a bright smile of the different people that I see, no matter what community they're in, knowing I can actually achieve my dreams. My parents might have not, but I can build on what they have. More opportunities. More dignity. More life. This is what happens when faith meets innovation. When biblical wisdom is honored. When the local church ignites change. When transformation begins small, it spreads like roots beneath the soil. Once, there was no hope. And now, hope cannot be stopped. Thank you. Have a good time. Come on now, yes, absolutely amazing. I want to just give a shout out to three groups of people this morning. First of all, I want us to welcome our other Willow campuses that are joining us this morning. Can we just welcome them, glad you're here. In a special way, I also want to just welcome our folks from Jefferson City Collection Center. I hear they're joining us every single Sunday. That is amazing. You guys, we love you and you're welcome. And last but not least, I also just want to welcome people that are joining us online.

If you're joining us online, would you please just let us know where you're joining us from? We have a beautiful team that's ready to just welcome you in the comment section. And I also want to give a shout out to our Malawian community that's joining us online. Yes, beautiful. If you have never met, which is most of you, my name is Humphreys Mkandawire, don't try to pronounce that last name. I am from Malawi, the video that you've just seen there is from Malawi, praise God. Yeah, I'm married to Kate and together we have three children, Tembi, Praise, and Danny. And it's so good that finally I could be here at the Celebration of Hope joining you guys this year. I was here last year, but it's good to be back here. You know, Chicago, I love you guys, but I have to tell you that I have trust issues with your weather. And I've just been here for a week, and in Malawi, we have three seasons. We have the rainy season, we have the winter, and we have the summer, and I feel I've experienced all of that in one week. Sometimes, maybe even in a day. And for the first time, I was actually shocked on Friday when my phone just started going off and there was an alert of a tornado that's coming. And my host says, hey, we need to go in the basement, we need to take shelter, because that's what you've got to do. So we did that, and now thank God nothing really happened in our area. But the lightning and the thunder that was happening went on for too long for me, and I was wondering what's going to happen. And this actually reminded me of something that happened in my home village. In 2011, it was on a Sunday in November, my cousin Naomi was excited to go to church, and she was a part of the choir, and she loved singing, she loved dancing, so she went to church early that morning, which is not common in my village where people don't go that early to church. But she did, because she just loved to worship God.

And they went into the church, and as they were worshiping, it just started to rain lightly. And as it started to rain, a powerful lightning struck the church. And in that moment, the church had this thatched roof. When I say thatch, I just mean grass. And that grass caught fire. And in an instant, 11 children were killed. The next day, I saw this story in the newspaper, and I just read the headline where it said 11 children died in a northern part of Malawi, and it turned out to be in my home village. And I read that story, and I said, okay, and then moved on. Oh, that's too sad, and then moved on. But then a few days later, someone called me and said, hey, did you hear what happened at the church on Sunday? I said, yeah, what happened at the church on Sunday? They said kids were killed. And I was like, oh, yeah, I think I read a headline there. And he said, but one of the children that died is your cousin, Naomi. And in that moment, everything changed for me. Because when pain becomes personal, it becomes powerful. When it becomes personal, it becomes missional. And there are moments when we can live our lives like, you know, we see the brokenness around us, and we can remain distant and unmoved. But the moment it touches you, in that moment, it becomes personal. You begin to feel differently. You begin to respond differently. And I think that's God's call in our life. God is calling us not to just leave as outsiders to the pain around us, but as people who step in, as people who step into it. When it comes to justice, God is not just calling us to show up. He is calling us to step in. And when we are stepping in, there are three ways that we can respond to the suffering

around us. The first way you can respond to the brokenness around you is by being apathetic. This is when you choose not to do anything. This is when you choose not to engage. And often, apathy is driven by by fear, fear to be hurt again. Some of you have helped people before, and you've been hurt before. As you are supporting them and help them, you get your hands burnt. So you are saying, you know what, I'd rather stay away from it. Some of us, we don't want to feel again. You know, we don't want to feel. We don't want to carry the burden of feeling when you look at the brokenness around you. And I come from a country which has great need. In Malawi, about 50% of Malawi is under the age of 18, and 4% is above 65. So it's a very, very young nation. And because it is a young nation, it means that a lot of young people are looking for opportunities, opportunities for education, opportunities to create something better for their future. And as a church of just 600 people, one way that we respond to helping our young people is by sending over 30 students to access college education. And we spend about $10,000 a year to support them. But I gotta tell you that every single time,

every single child, every single kid that we are sending to school, we are turning away a lot of them. And these are young people that we are sitting close by, we are praying with, we are discipling, and we gotta tell them, sorry, we cannot support. And the pain of turning someone away, and I cannot describe it to you, and probably maybe you know the feeling when the need is so big, it's so overwhelming, that your help just feels like a drop in the ocean. And you would rather just stay away than begin to help because it's so overwhelming. And therefore, you can choose apathy. We also choose apathy because we are afraid to face our own brokenness. When you begin to look at the brokenness of others, your own brokenness gets exposed. And some of us are not willing to deal with our own brokenness, so we'd rather avoid the brokenness of another to avoid our own brokenness. Because you cannot respond to God's call and not God use that call to shape you or as a tool for your own growth. And some of us are not willing, are not actually willing to face our own brokenness. So apathy feels safer than responding. So apathy can be one way that we respond to the brokenness around us.

The second way is that we can respond to the brokenness around us is by being messianic. This is when you choose to tell yourself that I can be all things to all people all the time. This is when you carry on a savior mentality that you want to serve the world. You are the only one who can fix what's wrong in the world. But you and I realize too quickly that we cannot save the world, only Jesus can. Your shoulders are too small to carry the whole world. Leave that to God. But the final way that God wants us to respond is by mourning the brokenness. God wants us to mourn the brokenness. And when you mourn the brokenness, that means you're being invited to behold that brokenness and to just sit in the uncomfortability of what this is. And mourning actually points you towards hope. The hope comes because you realize that there is deeper feeling within you and longing which says things shouldn't be this way. There has to be another way. We cannot keep on living in a world where children are being abused. There has to be another way. We cannot keep on living in a world where people go hungry. There has to be another way. And the good news is that in the end, God will fulfill that deeper longing within you

because we know that God does not leave brokenness unfixed. He fixes brokenness in the end. One of the passages that I love is Revelation 21, verses four where he says that he'll wipe every tear from their eyes. And God might not stop the tears from coming, but he'll wipe the tears when they come. And I just wonder, what if every single time we respond to the brokenness around us, what if in that moment, God is using us as his cloth to wipe tears away from the eyes of others? So God invites us to mourn the brokenness. Also, mourning moves you towards compassion. Compassion is not the same as sympathy. Sympathy says, I see your pain, and it stands there. But compassion says, I see your pain, and I choose to step into it. Compassion says, I will jump into the suffering. I will enter into that suffering and do my part. And that's God's call in your life. God just calls you to do your part. He doesn't want you to do everything, but he just calls you to do your part. And this morning, we're gonna read this challenging passage from Amos chapter five, verses 10. And this is such a challenging passage when it comes to injustice and how we should respond to the brokenness around us. So I wanna read Amos chapter five, verses 10 to 15. Now, this is a tradition of ours that we do.

do back home where we ask people to stand as we read the scripture. So if you can and if you are able, would you please stand as we read together Amos chapter five verses 10 to 15 and then we're gonna jump to 21 and all the way to 24. It's what the Bible says. There are those who hate the one who uphold justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them. Though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. They are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore, they put and keep quiet in such times for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good. Maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph, verse 21. I hate, I despise your religious festivals.

Your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me bent offerings and grand offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Aware with the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream. Jesus, we thank you for your word. We pray, Father, that this word will become a voice that we'll choose to follow. In the name of Jesus, amen. Go ahead and take a seat. You know, Amos was a prophet that rose during a time when the nation of Israel were outwardly prosperous. Like people saw that they were rich and they had everything that they needed. But one thing that was missing was justice. Justice was absent. Now, not only was justice neglected in Israel, but people were intentionally abusing their power. People were intentionally blocking justice for those that needed it in the courts. And they were choosing to pursue religious activity while denying what God cares about. They were choosing to celebrate the name of God, but they were never willing to embrace the ways of God. They were choosing to declare to others, to declare their faith to other people,

but they were never willing to let their faith define their behavior. And, you know, God comes in and we see in this passage that God is so serious about justice that he will not allow your worship to just be something you do, but rather something you become. And these people had come to a place where their worship of God were just defined by moments they were spending with God, not a life that was being shaped by God. But God wants your worship to shape the reality of your justice. And I just love that verse 24, which is a famous passage that says, but let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream. What that means is that God desires that we don't just rely on random acts of kindness, but rather we begin to embrace justice to be a part of our lives and a part of our worship. That he has to define our journey every single day. And if I were to summarize this passage, this would be our bottom line. A worship that excludes justice excludes God. A worship that excludes justice excludes God. If justice is not a part of your worship of God, then God is not a part of your worship. You know, God was, again, it's a kind of worship where hands went up to him,

but they never reached out to the broken. God was against a kind of worship that hands went up to the heavens, but never went out to the hurting. And Amos says, God is not for you because justice is not a part of your worship. So he gives challenges to them. And I wanna highlight just three challenges that God gives them in this passage. The first challenge that God makes is choose to be a blessing. Choose to be a blessing. When I read verse 11, this is what the verse 11 says. You lay your straw tacks on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore you have built stone mansions. You will not live in them. Though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. You can clearly see that they were blessed. Outwardly, they had the stone mansions. I don't know what those look like. You know, they had the vignettes. They had power and they had influence. But even though they had the power to change the situation of the underprivileged, they chose to do nothing. Even though they had the power to change the situation of someone, they chose themselves.

And this is the message that God is sending to them. Do not be obsessed with having a blessing. Be obsessed with being a blessing. Because they miss God. They became the betrayers of injustice because they only focused on having the blessing, but they never considered what the blessing was for. Because you and I know that we are blessed so that we can bless others. And you stop being a blessing when you begin to think that the blessing that came to you, came to you to end with you. And the only way you can be a blessing is when you begin to see that God's blessings come to us. Not to end with us, but to flow through us. You know, there are some of you that are withholding something that should just flow through you. Just flow through you. And when I was reading this, you know, I became a bit defensive, you know. Ever read Scripture and said, huh, that's not about me, right? I was reading it because I was like, I don't have that amount of power. I don't have that amount of influence, so this doesn't concern me. But for most of us, being a place of power or influence is not really about the position you have, but actually it's about the blessing that you have.

That your blessing becomes an influence for you to bless other people. So now the focus has to be, what can God do through this gift that he has given me? What can God do through this blessing that he has given me? Last year, one of the biggest mindset shift for me was, I felt like God challenged me that I should start getting excited about what God is already blessing. Because often we get excited about having God or needing God to bless what we are doing or what we want. But how many times do we just pause and ask the question, what is God already blessing that I should get involved in? And I can tell you that God is blessing the work of feeding the hungry. God is blessing the work of uplifting the poor. God is blessing the work of helping people with disabilities and helping the lowly. He is blessing that, are you willing to join him there? Are you willing to get involved? The second challenge that he makes in this passage is choose to do good and not just look good. Choose to do good and not just look good. Just listen to verse 14. This is what the Bible says. Seek good, not evil, that you may leave. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you just as you say he is. You know, these people were actively seeking evil

and God says, no, you have to actively seek good. You have to actively seek good. And he gives them two reasons why they should do that. Number one, he says so that you may leave. You think you know what being alive looks like? You actually start being alive when you start doing good. That's what God is telling them. And the second reason he tells them why they should do good, God says that the Lord God Almighty will be with you just as you say he is. Now when I read that, that's sad reality because these friends were convinced that they were leaving and they were convinced that God was with them and God says, no, I'm not with you. You know, ever had somebody in your life whom you thought they were with you but then they weren't? They were never with you? Now imagine that being God. You think God is with you? And God says, no, I am not with you. And I was wondering how could they not notice that God was not with them? And I think they missed God because they confused having good things with having God. They thought because they had good things that meant God was with them. And by the way, they're not alone in this. We do the same. We confuse having good things with having God or maybe the other way around.

We confuse the absence of good things with the absence of God. And we do this because people don't judge God by his intentions. People judge God by their consequences. When life is good, we say God is good. When life is beautiful, we say God is with me and he loves me. But when things don't go your way, you say God doesn't care about me. He doesn't love me. He's not with me. Why are we going there? Because people don't judge. by his intentions, they judge God by their consequences. And this is why God is inviting them that they would align their life with his intentions. And God's intentions are always moving towards good. So he says, seek good, seek good. And seeking good will not be easy. Some of you are gonna be good to people, and those people will not be good to you. Some of you are gonna be kind to other people, and they might take your kindness for a ride. But do good anyway, do good anyway. Our doing of good must always be a response to the good God is doing in us. You know, do lovely things, not because people are doing lovely things. Do lovely things because God is doing lovely things in you.

And I think the best gift that we can give to people is to allow people to experience the goodness of God, not that they should respond to us, but that they should respond to God, that they should respond to Jesus. So seek good, seek good. And I wanna read verse 15. Verse 15 says, hate evil, love good, maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. I think there's a rebuke for us here. First of all, we need to embrace mercy as our motivation every single time we fight injustice. Fighting against injustice is not the same as fighting against the unjust. This is not a war against people. This is a war against the injustice. Because the way that God wants us to fight injustice is actually by helping the unjust to experience God's mercy, by helping the unjust to experience God's mercy. And sometimes we begin to fight people because we are being driven by culture, not by the gospel. You know, culture doesn't wanna just remove the injustice, but it wants to condemn the unjust forever. Now, should we keep people accountable? I think we must. But the way of the gospel is chooses redemption. The way of the gospel is to remove the injustice,

but then to allow the unjust experience the mercy of God. Because God desires that they would be changed. And when they are changed, there'll be amazing human beings in our community. That's God's way. And the final challenge God makes in this passage, God says, choose to become a sacrifice. Choose to become a sacrifice. Verses 21 and 22 says this. I hate, I despise your religious festivals. Your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I'll not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I'll have no regard for them. I'll have no regard for them. In the ancient world, people would connect with God by bringing sacrifices to God. But the problem that God was addressing often was that they would bring their sacrifices, yet at the same time, they would be acting injustices in the community. And God is telling them that you cannot hide behind a sacrifice. How you live your life after the sacrifice actually matters. It matters, and it matters to God. When you embrace justice, your view of what a sacrifice is actually changes. You know, the children of Israel thought God's call was just to bring a sacrifice,

but actually God's call was more than that. They forgot that the presence of God wasn't just a place where they would bring a sacrifice, but actually it was a place where they're being shaped into something. Or even better, in the presence of God, we are always being shaped into someone. And God's invitation for them was, don't just bring a sacrifice, become a sacrifice. That's Romans 12 verse one, that we would offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. So God is telling them, become a sacrifice. God is confronting a sad reality. At the core of injustice is this. You come face to face with a situation that requires you to pay a cost, but then you refuse to pay that cost. So you demand that someone else would pay that cost on your behalf. And every single time we demand someone else that they should become a sacrifice, what happens is that injustice happens. And you and I know someone who became like us, who willingly went to the cross and became a sacrifice on our behalf. And that's the only one. There's only one person who can become a sacrifice on your behalf, and his name is Jesus. So may we not demand things from people

that only Jesus can give. And may we not demand things from people that only we can give. So choose to become a sacrifice. Verse 23 says these words. Aware with the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the music of your haps. This is God addressing their worship. These guys had embraced worship as just the music they were singing to God, and not a life they were living. And God is so moved with injustice that he would rather you act justly than sing beautifully. But God is so moved by injustice that he would rather you act justly than shout loudly. Desiring justice moves us from just going to the altar to bring sacrifices, and it helps us to become an altar for God. We become altars for God where his kingdom is put on display for others to experience his goodness. And we thank God because of the gospel, that through the gospel of Christ, we see Jesus who becomes both the altar and also he becomes the sacrifice, and he lays down his life for us. And I think there's an invitation for you and I. I think the biggest invitation we see here is that we need to move beyond getting excited

about doing church. Instead, we need to start getting passionate about being the church. Our world is not looking for people who could do church. Our world is really desperate for people who can be the church. When we just do church, we're just gonna do things that feel good to us and not really pay attention to the things that can change the world. When we just do church, we're just gonna do things that look good. We're just gonna see ourselves as the receivers of God's goodness instead of seeing ourselves as carriers of God's goodness. One of the things that broke God's heart in this passage is that the children of Israel would just come to God so that God can sort out everything that was wrong with them. That's why they were bringing sacrifices. But God wanted them to know that their worship could become so much more. They were obsessed with having God correct their wrongs instead of being obsessed with having God empowering them to do what's right. That's our invitation. Don't be obsessed with asking God to fix what's wrong in your life. Be obsessed with asking God to empower you to do good in the world. So we have a choice today.

Our choice is to embrace a worship that excludes justice or a worship that includes justice. But remember that a worship that excludes justice excludes God. These guys were blocking justice for the poor and for the needy and for the underprivileged. And we may not be blocking justice. We may not be going to the courts and stopping people from experiencing justice. But I think what happens often for us is that we block ourselves from seeing the brokenness around us. And God wants us to see it and behold the brokenness around us. That every single time you choose justice, you are choosing to be on the side of God. Every single time. When you choose to uplift the despised, you are always on the side of God. When you choose to feed the hungry, you're always on the side of God. When you choose to show mercy to those that don't deserve it, you are choosing to be on the side of God. When you choose to forgive, you are choosing to be on the side of God. And their choice is to stay where you are or to go where God is. And I hope you can choose to go where God is because where God is is better than where you're comfortable. I want to pause for a moment.

It could have been a phrase that I say that's ringing in your head over and over again. Or maybe a part of the scripture that we read that's just ringing in your head over and over again. I think that's God's voice to you. I think that's God's invitation to you where God is inviting you to lean in, to step in. God is inviting you to respond to him or to just say a prayer for yourself. Some of you, God is calling you to do good by forgiving, by choosing reconciliation, by... Choosing mercy, however God is calling you in, would you just allow the Spirit of God to help you to step into that? Just pray for yourself, for God to give you courage and to help you. And maybe you join us this morning, you're in this building or maybe even online, and you have no connection with Jesus. Jesus is compassionate, and He's always running towards you. If you're willing to connect with Him, He's ready to welcome you. Father, we thank you for your kindness. We thank you, God, for this morning. We pray, Jesus, that you would help us to be a people that are willing to always move towards you, that we would choose to be carriers of God's goodness in the world, that we would choose to be carriers

of God's kindness in the world, that we would choose to say yes and yes again to God over and over again in the world, for our world needs to experience the goodness of God over and over again. So God, help us. And I pray for anybody else that's making a choice to follow Jesus, that they will be willing to lay their life down so they can experience the compassion that God offers them. Father, we love you and we thank you. In the name of Jesus, we bless God. And all the church say, amen. Amen, praise God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. At this time, I'm gonna invite our prayer team to come forward. And as Humphreys mentioned, that you have several choices here. And as we get ready to stand and sing this last song together, we wanna invite you to come down because we want to pray with you

as you make your next step towards what it is that God is calling in your spirit, in your heart. So let's stand all over the room right now and let's sing this song together. ♪ We sing you are here, you are here ♪ ♪ Moving in our midst, I worship you ♪ ♪ I worship you, we sing together ♪ ♪ You are here, you're working in this place ♪ ♪ I worship you, I worship you ♪ ♪ You are here, you are here, you're moving in our midst ♪ ♪ I worship you, oh Lord, I worship you ♪ ♪ You are here, you are here, you're working in this place ♪ ♪ And I worship you, I worship you ♪ Come on church, let's lift this up together. We sing. ♪ Promise keep, light in the darkness, my God ♪ ♪ That is who you are, oh you are a way maker ♪ ♪ Way maker, miracle worker, promise keep ♪ ♪ Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are ♪ ♪ Way maker, way maker, miracle worker, promise keep ♪ ♪ Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are ♪ ♪ Oh you are a way maker, miracle worker, promise keep ♪ ♪ Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are ♪ ♪ That is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are ♪ ♪ That is who you are, that is who you are, that is who you are ♪ ♪ Oh whatever you need, you are a savior, you are a redeemer ♪ ♪ That is who you are, we sing that is, oh you are a way maker ♪ ♪ Oh you are a way maker, way maker, miracle worker, promise keep ♪ ♪ Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are ♪ ♪ Way maker, way maker, miracle worker, promise keep ♪

♪ Light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are ♪ Come on, let's give God some praise, church. How many of you know he's a waymaker? Oh, let me say it one more time. How many of us know that he is a waymaker? Praise God. Yeah. Praise God. And one of the ways that he makes a way is through our opportunity to plant simple seeds of faith through simple seeds around the world. And so earlier, we talked a little bit about seed packing. And next week, our whole church is going to have an opportunity to plant a different kind of seed. You see, we have taken upon ourselves the challenge to take one days of wages and to give that day of wages so that it might make a long-term impact in building the kingdom of God. And next week, as a church, we are going to celebrate through giving that one day. Can I just hear you shout for that? Come on. Yeah. It's an opportunity for us to plant a seed and to pray that that seed might make a kingdom impact in building up a church that is rooted and strengthened in faith. And so as we exit today, I want you to be praying, but also I want you to be preparing for us to be able to plant that kind of seed. And I want us to take all of our worship with us as we exit today. And so right out in the hallway after this service and in between services, this beautiful choir that we see right here, praise God, they're going to be out in our atrium, and we're going to have a chance to continue to worship together. Willow Creek, we love you, and it's an honor to worship with you and do hope to see you back here next week.

So God bless you. Continue to celebrate hope. We'll see you soon.